Oopps.
This morning I took the wheel to Les Schwab tire center for a fix. The guy said he could sell me a tube but would not install it because the tire was old and he was worried about liability if the tire blew up when pressurizing the tire after installing the tube. He offered to sell me a new, or even a used tire if he had one. No. The tire is only used to move the packer from field to field. When planting seed and packing it in the ground one takes the tires off.
I asked if I could install the tire as it looked like a bigger version of a bicycle tire. He said he thought I could. So I bought the inner tube. I asked if he could remove the tire enough so I could install the tube and then put the tire back on. He said ok and that I could get the tire in an hour and ended up charging me $5 to do.
I went for a bicycle ride for an hour. A guy in a pickup passed and cut in sharply in front of me and flipped me off even though the oncoming traffic was a half mile away. Seriously... some people's attitude.
A few days ago I sold an item on Craigslist for $50. This morning when I went to use my money I found I only had $30. I glanced at the money when she paid me and hadn't counted the bills. My mistake as she shorted me a twenty.
My neighbor Jan filled her little trailer up with branches and brush and pine cones. As I have the hayfield left to disc again I had this small window where I can reach my pasture and tree stumps burn pile. Otherwise I would have to wait until June when I let the cattle out of their temporary corral. So I hauled the brush. When I got back I found Jan hadn't gone to her daughter-in-laws college graduation ceremony as her daughter's cat unexpectedly died. Jan had more brush she hadn't put in her trailer yet. So I had to make a second trip. This time when backing up I was distracted and the trailer jackknifed against the side of my pickup making a large dent.
So I had to use a sledgehammer and crawl under the pickup to (mostly) pound the dent out. I also removed several other dents on the other side where I had driven too close to the cattle's feeder this past Winter.
Putting on a vehicle tire with just large screwdrivers and flat crowbars was not working. Both tire beads had been 'broken' though I only needed one 'broken' in order to put the inner tube into the tire. I couldn't even get one bead seated before installing the tube.
I then thought of Big Sky tires where I had bought tires before. They installed the tire and tube using their machine. No problem with this being an "old" tire. But then he said the tire had a leak. What?! He said he made sure it was from the tube and not just extra air between the tire and tube. I had him take the tube out to find the leak. But he couldn't find one. He didn't charge for his effort.
I have replaced/patched many bicycle tires. While very rare, I have encountered leaks where the tube leaks in the tire but not outside of the tire when one inflates the tube and puts it under water.
The Big Sky guy also noted that I didn't have a plastic/rubber "ring" for the valve stem hole. The hole was a little large for the tube's valve stem and without a "ring" there was a chance of the tube shifting over time and the stem getting cut. I had taken the rim in to Les Schwab but they didn't give me a "ring".
So I took the tire back to Les Schwab where I was informed that Les Schwab doesn't sell tubes that leak and they had given me a brand new tube. I explained that Big Sky said the tube leaked when inside the tire. I was told again that Les Schwab doesn't sell tubes that leak, and if it leaked that Big Sky damaged the tube. I told him my experience with bicycle tubes. I held the still inflated tube. He took the inflated tube and using a machine put the entire tube under water. No air leak.
I again explained my bicycle tube experiences. He gave me the tube and told me this tube doesn't leak and Les Schwab doesn't sell tubes that leak.
Ya, right. Like no tube is ever defective.
Les Schwab lost me as a customer. I was upset he was not taking me seriously. I have used them for years to fix flat tires, as the guy noted in the morning from my id in his computer when he took my order for an inner tube. The impression I got when he mentioned that was: you only use us to fix flats and don't buy any tires from us.
I went to Big O tires. It was no problem to work on an "old" tire. They noted the tire was a tubeless tire. (Probably why the rim's valve stem hole is a little large.) Before looking for a tube they tried to seat the tire and inflate it. They tried four or five times without success. The rim had a dent in it. I was fine with a tube, and maybe the rim dent was why the tire had a tube for a tubeless tire. Big O didn't have a tube for my size. 14 inch. Old machinery and now-a-days an odd sized tire.
I went across town to M&C Tire. They were nice. They also noted it was a tubeless tire (unlike Les Schwab who made no mention of it). I explained the dent and how Big O failed to get the seal to hold air. He looked and they didn't have a tube that would fit my tire. But he offered to try and pound the dent out of the rim and seat the tire.
Go for it. I have nothing to lose.
I could hear him banging away on my rim. And he was successful! M&C Tires are my new hero and place of business. And he only charged me $15.
After enduring traffic to get home (it was a Friday and rush hour), I fed the cattle and then drove over to get the packer after 7 pm.
The packer is 10 to 12 feet wide. As it was old and awkward I could not drive more than 8 to 10 mph. Otherwise the packer would start to sway and wobble. I had three miles of back roads. Each lane was 10 to 11 feet wide. When I met vehicles I tried to go to one side if the ditch was not deep. Even then the packer bar would quickly reach and drag on the ground. After a few vehicles I only stopped if they did not stop. I couldn't pull off to the side and if I had to stop they had to squeeze around me. Most people had common sense and pulled over on driveways and let me pass.
So the packer is in my backyard. I had expected to have finished the discing by today, but haven't even started. Tomorrow. Time flies by when things don't go smoothly.
The tires are removed when one is ready to pack/plant. Hence the short axle - which I had to remove before Big Sky could use their tire installation machine. Behind the tire is the tube that leaks/doesn't leak.
One puts the seed in the red box. The place I bought the seed from offered to blend the alfalfa and grass seed - which I accepted. The red box had two compartments, one for alfalfa and one for grass. So, I may end up only using one compartment. Chris was vague on the setting to dispense the seed. He has other newer, more efficient machinery for planting. So it will be some trial and error to find the right setting so that I don't run out of seed during planting.
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